the attack ads put romney on defense for months. the president also got a lip fr lift from the supreme court. romney vowed to strike it down himself. >> i'm not one that's going to get rid of obama care. >> reporter: at number seven, gas. >> governor romney, do you feel that your gas has overshadowed your foreign trips? >> reporter: or in romney's case, his entire foreign trip where a campaign aide lashed out at reporters. a gaffe that went global. and then at number sick, the conventions were remembered less for the nominees and their running plates and more for -- >> what do you want me to tell romney? i can't tell him to do that. can't do that to himself. >> reporter: the warmup acts that stole the show. >> we believe that we're all in this together is a far better philosophy than you're on your own. >> reporter: number five, the september 11 attack in benghazi injected foreign policy into the race. >> justice will be done. >> reporter: a week later, the campaign shifted again to the hidden cram ra video of romney's comments on t